Man Utd takeover farce poses Old Trafford problem during meeting with chiefs
The ongoing takeover saga at Manchester United is preventing club chiefs from fixing the notoriously leaky roof at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils opened up a takeover process last November, with the Glazers seeking either a full buy-out or minority investment in the club. Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe quickly emerged as the frontrunners to take full control of United.
But with neither Ratcliffe nor Sheikh Jassim matching the Glazers' £6billion asking price, that process has stalled to a halt. The continuing uncertainty over United's long-term ownership is causing problems for their senior leadership team.
According to the Daily Mail, managing director Collette Roche, chief executive Richard Arnold and chief financial officer Cliff Baty held a meeting with staff last week. During that meeting the trio spoke of the challenges United are facing with their ageing infrastructure.
It is said that Roche outlined the specific difficulties with fixing the roof, which once again began leaking water onto supporters during the defeat to Crystal Palace. Club chiefs are aware that the roof on the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand badly needs to be replaced.
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The uncertainty over who will be in charge at United in the long-term has been causing 'issues'. The club are said to be reluctant to commit to what would be a costly roof replacement when new owners could decided the rebuild the stadium altogether.
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Manchester United are running into problems as they look to fix Old Trafford's leaky roofOld Trafford's location is also causing problems, with the club needing to put cranes over the railway line at the back of the south stand for the work to be done. That means that the work cannot take place during the season, if United are to avoid severely restricting their attendance.
Ratcliffe is believed to be exploring the possibly of changing his offer to one of minority ownership instead. Sheikh Jassim meanwhile is pressing ahead with a full takeover and is planning to hand club legend David Beckham a role at Old Trafford.
Beckham recently called for an end to the turmoil at the club, which he believes is affecting the team. While he backed manager Erik ten Hag, the England icon insisted he was dealing with a difficult situation.
"We are one of the, if not the biggest club in the world. We want stability. I think that's the most important thing. We all have our favourites of who we feel needs to run the club and look after the club to take it back to where it belongs," Beckham told Sky Sports.
"In our eyes, in the fans eyes, we are number one. We want to be back at the top and I believe I know the right people to do that so we'll see! It is a difficult time at the moment but there's a lot of noise around the club at the moment.
"It can't be easy for him. We all want that noise to go away. We all want a decision to be made for the club, for the fans, for the players and for the managers."
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